Milwaukee baby dead, teen babysitter charged with reckless homicide

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MILWAUKEE - A 7-month-old Milwaukee boy died earlier this month. Now, prosecutors have charged the boy's babysitter with killing him – and a warrant is out for his arrest.

In Court:

Court records show 17-year-old Hersen Patrick is charged as an adult with one count of first-degree reckless homicide. An arrest warrant was issued on Monday.

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Baby's death

The backstory:

According to a criminal complaint, the baby's mother called 911 to report her son was "unresponsive and not breathing" on July 10. Patrick, who was babysitting that day, took over the call and began talking with the dispatcher – claiming the baby had "slept the entire day."

Prosecutors said Patrick told the dispatcher that the baby's heart was beating, but he was not breathing, and the dispatcher instructed him on how to perform CPR until first responders arrived. When the Milwaukee Fire Department got to the scene near 41st and Concordia, the baby's body was limp, and he was "pulseless and not breathing." 

Children's Wisconsin

The baby was still unresponsive when they arrived at Children's Wisconsin, and court filings said six rounds of epinephrine were needed to regain a pulse. There were "linear abrasions" on the baby's neck, as well as "red, linear indentations under the chin at the top of the neck and above the collar bone."

Two separate brain death examinations took place, and with no blood flow to the brain, the baby was declared dead on July 14. An autopsy found "numerous internal injuries" that were "consistent with blunt force trauma." 

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What they're saying:

Court filings said the baby's mother asked Patrick to babysit her two children, the 7-month-old and a 19-month-old, when she went to work. When she got home, she found Patrick "lying on an air mattress" with the 7-month-old in a bedroom, and Patrick was "acting as if he was just waking up." The mother found the baby not breathing.

Prosecutors said the mother told police that, during the ambulance ride to Children's Wisconsin, she noticed two marks on her son's neck that "were not present prior" to her leaving the baby with Patrick. She also said the baby was "in his usual state of health" when she left for work.

A criminal complaint noted Patrick is not related to the victim.

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‘Immediately symptomatic’

Dig deeper:

The complaint said a board-certified child abuse pediatrician performed a clinical consultation on the 7-month-old, and determined the baby was a victim of "physical abuse" and suffered "abusive head trauma." Court filings noted brain hemorrhages that were "too numerous to count," among other injuries.

Court filings also noted the "most common cause" of the injuries the baby sustained happen when a child is "slammed, shaken, and/or thrown." While it was not possible to precisely date the brain injuries, given the severity, it was "expected that the patient would have been immediately symptomatic."